Count me as one who thinks trading Johan Santana unnecessary. He's the best pitcher in baseball, he'll continue to be worth a lot for a while, and trading quality for quantity is rarely a good idea.
The Twins can make two moves that can make quite a difference. They can sign Santana asap, as harsh as the money is going to be. Then they can take one or more of their pitchers not named Santana/Liriano/Garza/Baker and get a young, promising 3B.
From there they can use Hunter's 2008 money (12-15 mil) to acquire stopgaps in CF and at DH and pay raises to Morneau and Kubel and Cuddyer. Santana starts getting his 20+ mil in 2009 and is always tradeable, really, regardless of no-trade clauses.
For 2008 this isn't perfect, but I think the Twins don't really contend anyway. Liriano is a question mark coming off TJ surgery, and the young pitching needs the extra extra experience 2008 will bring. For 2009 they should have three staff aces in Santana/Liriano/Garza, Baker, Slowey, Perkins, Bonser, Duensing, maybe Blackburn et al, minus who they gave up for the 3B. That gives the team a year to consolidate and more efficiently determine their in-house position player options.
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